Drivers’ strike action stalemate
Negotiations remain deadlocked 18 months after strikes began, but train operators opt not to use the new ‘Minimum Service Levels’legislation.
THE call for further strike action by train drivers’ union ASLEF has so far seen a reluctance by operators to make use of new legislation that gives them the power to insist that a minimum level of service is provided on strike days.
ASLEF gave the required 14 days’ notice of action for a series of one-day strikes to begin as this issue went to press, taking place at 16 individual operating companies between January 30 and February 5, plus an overtime ban between January 29 and February 6.
Train operators now have legal powers, which came into force in December 2023, to issue a ‘work notice’ to staff to operate services on a strike day. If the notice is ignored, it can remove their normal immunity from disciplinary procedures for being absent without leave. Work notices to individual staff have to be issued at least seven days in advance, and so had to be delivered by January 23.
Only LNER advised ASLEF it would be implementing a Minimum Service Level (MSL) for the proposed strike day on February 2. The response from the trade union was that if this plan was to go ahead, then it would extend the strike for a further period from February 5-9.
LNER subsequently took the view it was not worth pursuing the MSL proposal, which resulted in ASLEF withdrawing the threat of strike action over a longer period.
Although other operators had preliminary meetings with the aim of issuing work notices to maintain a basic timetable, these came to nothing as it was judged that such action would inflame rather than create an atmosphere for negotiations to resolve the dispute.
No freedom
In reality, resolving the dispute is not something the train operators (whether either directly run by the Government or holding Department for Transport contracts) have any freedom of action over.
The 4% ceiling for a pay offer set when negotiations started last year, is a figure imposed by the DfT at the insistence of the Treasury as part of its policy to reduce inflation.
In a wider context, pay restraint has been successful as there has been a substantial fall in inflation to 3.9% at the end of 2023. But what has not been accounted for is the economic cost of the disruption to rail services as a result of people not being able to work, and the effect of reduced spending in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors. The Centre
“A settlement with ASLEF could follow if pay was decoupled from negotiations about working practices”
for Economics and Business Research estimated that all this cost at least £500 million for the six-month period to January 2023.
Pay restraint is not the only element of restrictions that DfTsponsored train operators face in negotiating settlements, and reform of rostering practices is also seen as a requirement to bring an end to the dispute. This is not unreasonable given the current practice of voluntary working on Sundays, and the need for change was illustrated by the situation that occurred on Christmas Eve
2023 – which fell on a Sunday – where widespread unplanned timetable cancellations took place.
It is worth remembering that agreements have been reached where contracts are not the responsibility of the DFT but of devolved administrations such as Transport for London, the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, and the Liverpool City Region – as well as the independent passenger and freight open access operators.
Pay and practice
There is a growing acceptance that pay increases to reflect historically high levels of inflation (which began with the disruption to energy supplies following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022) should be separated from the more contentious matter of reform of working conditions, which will require agreement with the individual train operators.
But the Government shows little sign of allowing the two issues to be separated, or of seeking mediation to resolve the ongoing dispute with ASLEF members.
The original objective of pay restraint to reduce inflation has been achieved, but industrial action on the railways continues to hurt other sectors of the economy that depend on public transport for workers or customers.
Resolution of the RMT dispute about pay was resolved and a settlement with ASLEF could follow if pay was decoupled from negotiations about working practices.